Chaos in Kingston’s Clayhill halls

Kingston University students living in Clayhill have resorted to wearing up to three pairs of socks in a bid to stay warm because of heating failures, among other problems at the halls of residence.

Many have complained that hot water and heating are turned off for several hours at a time. The heating is only on during the day and there is no hot water in the mornings, according to residents.

First year civil engineering student Phoebe Adfield said: “It’s freezing all the time and when you take a shower the hot water is never on. At one point the temperature in our kitchen was two degrees and we had to put the oven on because our heating wouldn’t work.”

These drastic measures have allegedly gone “unnoticed” by staff, with many students claiming that as well as the hot water issue nothing is resolved, leaving students huddling together in an attempt to stay warm.

A Kingston University spokesperson said: “We would advise students to report any concerns about heating or hot water in their rooms to their halls’ reception in the first instance so that staff can investigate and take appropriate action.”

First year fine art student Harry Brown described the living conditions at Clayhill as “horrendous” after being unable to use his toilet for a day as it leaked into the flat below.

Brown also complained about drain blockage and mould around the flat.

“The drains are constantly blocked and the showers leak all the time. It’s terrible because there’s mould everywhere. I would tell people to never move here,” he said.

First year journalism student Aneesa Anwar said that whilst her heating is fine, many of her friends have spoken of wearing several layers to compensate for the lack of heating.

“Many of my friends have heaters that do not work and they’ve had to put on so many layers. One of my friends actually had both heating and hot water problems, but unfortunately maintenance only fixed the hot water.”

Biomedical science student Ahmetcan Ahmet found it hard to deal with scheduled timings for heating and hot water which means that maintenance control when it works, describing the rule as “annoying”.

Clayhill students also complained about the lack of essential items around the accommodation, including cash machines.

Pharmaceutical science student Samatar Mohamed said: “They need to get a free cash machine in the common room as it has made my life at Clayhill that little bit more grey.”

The University spokesperson said: “The University takes the health, safety and well-being of its students very seriously. All of our halls of residence have 24-hour cover with staff on hand to assist with any problems in a timely manner should any issues be reported.”